Latin

‘If you want a great brain trainer as well as a challenging and fascinating study of some the most influential European literature, then Latin is your subject. It is also a highly regarded A Level, and works well with any combination of subjects, including the sciences, dealing with both the logical and the imaginative’.

Skills Required

To study Latin, you will need to have taken the subject at GCSE.

Course Overview

Latin offers a variety of work, which some students find a relief from solely essay-based subjects. Essays are written, but less frequently than in some subjects, and students often like the more self-contained assignments such as translations or preparation of the text. Such assignments train you in a variety of skills which are highly valued: they refine your linguistic ability, stimulate logical thought and sharpen your perceptions in response to the literature.

Each text is translated and discussed in class, to develop an understanding of the language, style, background and historical context, as well as to test your own reactions to it as literature. Study of the text spans out into details of history, society and mythology, and it is far from the narrow study that some assume it to be. It has rightly been said that it is an excellent subject for those who are interested in everything! Each text studied has a useful commentary to help you, and you are encouraged to read more widely in translation around the text to broaden your experience of the Classical World. You will be surprised at how relevant it is to the world today. Do not imagine that universities or employers will be unimpressed by this A Level. The real situation is quite the reverse.

If you choose to study Latin at A Level you will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of our own civilisation and heritage, and the skills acquired - communication, working with others, problem-solving and improving learning and performance - will be of great benefit, whatever career you may follow.

Methods of Assessment

The linear A Level gives an opportunity for broader reading of texts, both in the original and in translation to the background understanding.

Paper 1

1 hour 45 minutes - 33%

An unseen translation

To prepare for this examination we will cover a range of prose and verse authors for language practice and grammar teaching.

Paper 2

1 hour 15 minutes - 17%

A prose composition / comprehension test

Preparation for this paper is similar to paper 1.

Paper 3

2x 2 hours - 25% each paper

Prose literature paper & Verse literature paper

We will be studying two prose literature texts in depth for these papers.